(CBS/AP) A jury has found Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of 48 counts in his child sex abuse trial, believing prosecutors' portrayal of him as a serial molester who groomed his victims and not finding reasonable doubt in his defense lawyer's assertions that the former Penn State assistant football coach was being victimized by an overzealous prosecution and greedy accusers.

Sandusky showed little emotion as the verdict was read. The judge ordered him to be taken to the county jail to await sentencing in about three months.

Sandusky, a 68-year-old retired defensive coach who was once Paterno's heir apparent, was found guilty of 45 of 48 counts.

Sandusky showed little emotion as the verdict was read. The judge ordered him to be taken to the county jail to await sentencing in about three months. He faces the possibility of life in prison.

The judge revoked Sandusky's bail and ordered him jailed. In court, Sandusky half-waved toward family as the sheriff led him away. Outside, he calmly walked to a sheriff's car with his hands cuffed in front of him.

As he was placed in the car, someone yelled at him to "rot in hell." Others hurled insults and he shook his head no in response.

Almost immediately after the judge adjourned, loud cheers could be heard from at least a couple hundred people gathered outside the courthouse as word quickly spread that Sandusky had been convicted. The group included victim advocates and local residents with their kids. Many held up their smartphones to take pictures as people filtered out of the building.

Jurors were exposed to seven days testimony, some of it graphically describing abuse suffered at the hands of Sandusky, including touching in showers, fondling and in some cases forced oral or anal sex.

Eight young men testified that they were abused by the former Penn State assistant football coach, and jurors also heard about two other alleged victims through other witnesses, including another former coach.

Sandusky did not take the stand in his own defense.

He had repeatedly denied the allegations, and his defense suggested that his accusers had a financial motive to make up stories, years after the fact. His attorney also painted Sandusky as the victim of overzealous police investigators who coached the alleged victims into giving accusatory statements.

But jurors believed the testimony that, in the words of lead prosecutor Joseph McGettigan III, Sandusky was a "predatory pedophile."

One accuser testified that Sandusky molested him in the locker-room showers and in hotels while trying to ensure his silence with gifts and trips to bowl games. He also said Sandusky had sent him "creepy love letters."

Another spoke of forced oral sex and instances of rape in the basement of Sandusky's home, including abuse that left him bleeding. He said he once tried to scream for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but figured the basement must be soundproof.

Another, a foster child, said Sandusky warned that he would never see his family again if he ever told anyone what happened.

And just hours after the case went to jurors, lawyers for one of Sandusky's six adopted children, Matt, said he had told authorities that his father abused him.

Matt Sandusky had been prepared to testify on behalf of prosecutors, the statement said. The lawyers said they arranged for Matt Sandusky to meet with law enforcement officials but did not explain why he didn't testify.

"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy," the statement said. It didn't go into details about his allegations.

Defense witnesses, including Jerry Sandusky's wife, Dottie, described his philanthropic work with children over the years, and many spoke in positive terms about his reputation in the community. Prosecutors had portrayed those efforts as an effective means by which Sandusky could camouflage his molestation as he targeted boys who were the same age as participants in The Second Mile, a charity he founded in the 1970s for at-risk youth.

Sandusky's arrest in November led the Penn State trustees to fire Paterno as head coach, saying he exhibited a lack of leadership after fielding a report from McQueary. The scandal also led to the ouster of university president Graham Spanier, and criminal charges against two university administrators for failing to properly report suspected child abuse and perjury.

The two administrators, athletic director Tim Curley and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz, are fighting the allegations and await trial.

Sandusky had initially faced 52 counts of sex abuse. The judge dropped four counts during the trial, saying two were unproven, one was brought under a statute that didn't apply and another was duplicative. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57459262/sandusky-found-guilty-in-child-sex-abuse-trial/

SaintLouieWoman

06-22-2012, 11:51 PM

Will post story in a minute.

Just heard it, too, but couldn't find a link. At least justice triumps once in a while.

NJCardFan

06-22-2012, 11:51 PM

I hope his victims can find some solace in this.

Lanie

06-23-2012, 09:47 AM

Awesome.

Novaheart

06-23-2012, 10:04 AM

I don't understand how Sandusky had that kind of access to other people's children. I can't recall anyone having that kind of access to me as a child. If I had told my parents that a teacher, a coach, or some other adult supervisor was taking showers with us or even watching us strangely, my dad or grandfather would have taken care of the situation in short order.

Sandusky is a criminal, but where were the parents? How did they not have a clue that something was wrong? This is decidedly unlike the cases in which the priest's behavior was brought to the attention of the parents and the diocese and both decided to handle it quietly for the benefit of the church and child, isn't it?

Starbuck

06-23-2012, 12:07 PM

This all brings to mind the statute of limitations regarding child molestation. I read this:

Abuse that occurred under the age of 18 can only be prosecuted 10 years after the victim turns 18......
There will be those who believe the statute of limitations should be extended, or whatever, but the law in Pennsylvania is what it is. There will be lots of discussion and appeals, but I have no doubt that the conviction will stick.
Even if there are some 30 year old victims.

Starbuck

06-23-2012, 12:10 PM

I don't understand how Sandusky had that kind of access to other people's children. I can't recall anyone having that kind of access to me as a child.................
It's football, Nova. People do strange things all in the name of football.:apologetic: Being singled out for attention by a well known coach is akin to being noticed by God in some circles.

It's lunacy.

Gina

06-24-2012, 01:46 AM

It happened because Sandusky told the boys that if they told they wouldn't be believed, he'd get their dad fired from Penn State, etc.

One heartbreaking interview I heard was a mom of one of the victims who was crying, saying her son used to often say he didn't want to go to Sandusky's home, but she made him go.

Thing is the boys didn't talk, that's why parents weren't raging.

Jim54

06-24-2012, 02:47 PM

I sincerely hope Sandusky gets to be somebody's sugarpunk for the rest of his miserable life in the pen.:Dissolve:

Novaheart

06-24-2012, 08:54 PM

I sincerely hope Sandusky gets to be somebody's sugarpunk for the rest of his miserable life in the pen.:Dissolve:

Have you seen a photo of him? Even convicts have standards.

Bailey

06-24-2012, 09:36 PM

I hear he is going to a geriatric facility. I was over in dummy land and some want to close the PSU Football team and tar and feather everyone that has ever worked for the team. They should just go after the people involved and thats it.

Jim54

06-24-2012, 11:29 PM

Have you seen a photo of him? Even convicts have standards.

Ya' got me there!

noonwitch

06-25-2012, 10:14 AM

I don't understand how Sandusky had that kind of access to other people's children. I can't recall anyone having that kind of access to me as a child. If I had told my parents that a teacher, a coach, or some other adult supervisor was taking showers with us or even watching us strangely, my dad or grandfather would have taken care of the situation in short order.

Sandusky is a criminal, but where were the parents? How did they not have a clue that something was wrong? This is decidedly unlike the cases in which the priest's behavior was brought to the attention of the parents and the diocese and both decided to handle it quietly for the benefit of the church and child, isn't it?

I grew up in a good, low-crime community. That said, I can name several instances in which something bad was happening or could have happened, in which adults either had access to kids or almost did. Not just the science teacher with the forced neckrubs from the 13 year old girls in his class, either.

Our family used to have weekly volleyball parties with the family of one of my mom's high school friends from Detroit, whose husband was from GR. So, his relatives also were part of this group. His brother-in-law, who I will just call "Uncle Bob" was a disgusting pig of a man. He would make comments about the girls' bodies as we hit puberty, especially our breasts, plus, he served us alcohol when we were middle school aged, if our parents weren't looking. He also would try to touch all of our mothers' breasts if he danced with them, so none of them would dance with him. He had 3 daughters, too, the oldest of whom was my age. Me and the other girls in my age group made sure we were never alone with him (except his daughter, who obviously had no choice in the matter). My dad also watched him closely at such events.

I got followed around my neighborhood one time by the ice cream man, when I was just riding my bike around. I was probably about 14 or so. A bunch of boys were playing baseball down the street, so I just rode in that direction and they flagged down the truck to buy ice cream.

I went to camps, to kid's organizations and Little League events. In all of these contexts, I dealt with adults who were safe and nothing bad happened. But it easily could have-there wasn't always multiple adults supervising the group of kids, sometimes it was only one. We took communal showers at some of the camps I went to, and if you missed the time with your troop, it could have been possible for a camp counselor to be alone in the shower with one kid. It really doesn't take that much parental distraction for someone to take advantage of a kid.